252 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



first President. It is expected that ground 

 will be broken for the new building about 

 April I, and that it will be ready for 

 occupancy before November i, 1913. The 

 building and equipment will cost approxi- 

 mately $150,000, exclusive of the land. 



When the new structure is completed 

 Hubbard Hall will be restored to the 

 original purposes for which it was in- 

 tended — a meeting-place for geographers 

 and travelers, for the research and other 

 committees of the Society, and for the 

 accommodation of a useful geographical 

 library of ready reference. The Society 

 has several thousand standard geograph- 

 ical books, but owing to the crowding of 

 its present quarters, the volumes are for 

 the most part stored in packing-boxes. 



Fourteen years ago an able-bodied man 

 could walk ofT with the entire month's 

 edition of the magazine on his back, 

 whereas today seven freight cars are re- 

 quired to carry the paper for printing 

 the current number of the magazine. The 

 number of the magazine which contains 



this report would fill a book-shelf ly^ 

 miles long. This really extraordinary de- 

 velopment of a magazine which prints 

 no fiction has been made possible largely 

 because of the belief of the old and new 

 members in the object of the Society and 

 of the loyal support which they have 

 given to its policy of popularizing geo- 

 graphical knowledge, particularly as ex- 

 pressed in its magazine. 



During 1912 there was a uniform 

 growth in new members and in receipts 

 of approximately 60.5 per cent over the 

 preceding year, the largest percentage of 

 increase that the Society has attained 

 during the past six years. I give below 

 a table showing the progress of the So- 

 ciety in its membership, in its receipts, 

 in its earnings, research expenditures, 

 and investment for each of the last six 

 years. It is there shown that the mem- 

 bership, the receipts, and the earnings 

 for the year 1912 were practically four 

 times the corresponding figures for the 

 year 1908. 



Total investments and cash of the Society (December 31, 1912) 1 177, 060. 00 



This increased growth of the Society 

 will provide fimds for an even more val- 

 uable magazine in 191 3 than the So- 

 ciety has yet been able to publish. Sev- 

 eral new maps and panoramas, including 

 another wonderful mountain panorama 

 by Dr. Charles D. Walcott, Secretary of 

 the Smithsonian Institution, and several 

 colored features will appear in early 

 numbers of the magazine. Each number 

 of the magazine will contain splendid 

 articles by eminent authorities, and an 

 average of from 125 to 150 of the mar- 

 velous illustrations which have gfiven the 



magazine its unique reputation for inter- 

 est and instruction. 



The magazine has been purchasing 

 material in almost every part of the 

 world and has today one of the most 

 valuable collections of photographs in 

 the United States. The Society has also 

 a large equipment of machines, etc., 

 which have been purchased during the 

 past several years and none of which 

 appear on the books of the organization 

 as assets. The Society has a collection 

 of copper plates worth many thousand 

 dollars, also not carried as assets. 



